McManus: McConnell wants to use the filibuster to block Biden's agenda. Here's how Biden can outfox him

Now the measure, in all likelihood, will go to the Senate to die. Under the rules of the 100-member Senate, it takes 60 votes to end debate and move most bills to a vote. A filibuster used to mean a senator actually had to stand and speechify, refusing to give up the floor and thus keeping a bill from coming to a vote.

Three Gaza fishermen killed by apparent Palestinian rocket, rights group says

Three Palestinian fishermen were killed on Sunday when their boat exploded off the Gaza Strip, a blast that a human rights group said was likely caused by errant Palestinian rocket fire. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights said the boat was two miles offshore when the shell hit and "completely destroyed it". "The center condemns the incident, which indications suggest mostly likely occurred as a result of resistance training," said the statement, referring to Palestinian militant groups.

Antivirus software pioneer McAfee charged by U.S. with cryptocurrency fraud

John McAfee, the antivirus software pioneer whose former company still bears his name, has been indicted on fraud and money-laundering conspiracy charges stemming from two cryptocurrency schemes, the U.S. Justice Department said on Friday. Authorities accused McAfee and his bodyguard, Jimmy Gale Watson Jr., of exploiting McAfee's large Twitter following to artificially inflate prices of "altcoins" through a so-called pump-and-dump scheme, and concealing payments McAfee received from startup businesses to promote initial coin offerings. The Justice Department said McAfee and his accomplices reaped more than $13 million from the schemes.

Myanmar coup: Party official dies in custody after security raids

An official from Aung San Suu Kyi's party has died in custody in Myanmar after being arrested during raids by security forces in Yangon. On Sunday the body of U Khin Maung Latt was released to his family, who were reportedly told that he had died after fainting. The UN says more than 50 people have been killed since the military detained Ms Suu Kyi, Myanmar's democratically elected leader, on 1 February.

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  Myanmar protests, after death of Suu Kyi official

  Reuters Videos
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  Unions call for total strike in Myanmar; Suu Kyi party official dies in custody

  Reuters

U.S. Senator Manchin says filibusters could be made more 'painful'

Centrist Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, a pivotal vote in the U.S. Senate, on Sunday advocated making the procedural maneuver called the filibuster more "painful" to do, with Democrats concerned about Republicans obstructing President Joe Biden's legislative agenda. Some Democrats have advocated eliminating the filibuster to prevent Republicans from blocking Biden's initiatives. White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield made clear on Sunday that the president is not calling for ending the filibuster.

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  Chris Wallace Asks Joe Manchin If He's 'Enjoying' His Power 'A Little Too Much'

  HuffPost
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  Joe Manchin Signals Openness To Filibuster Reform As Push For Abolishing It Grows

  HuffPost

Aerials show huge blaze after oil facility strike in Syria

A suspected missile strike on an oil-loading facility used by Turkey-backed opposition forces in northern Syria sparked a massive blaze across a large area where oil tankers are normally parked, aerial and satellite images show. Syrian opposition groups and at least one war monitor blamed Russia for the strike Friday night near the towns of Jarablus and al-Bab, near the border with Turkey. In a report, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, based in Britain, said Russian warships in the Mediterranean had fired three missiles that struck primitive oil refineries and tanker trucks in the region.

Amanda Gorman: US poet says security guard labelled her 'suspicious'

Amanda Gorman, the young poet who found global fame after performing at President Joe Biden's inauguration, has shared her experience of alleged racial profiling by a security guard. Gorman received widespread acclaim for her reading of The Hill We Climb. Tweeting about her experience, Gorman described being "tailed" by the security guard who she said offered no apology after she was able to prove she lived in her own apartment building.

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  Inaugural Poet Amanda Gorman Says She Was Racially Profiled Outside Her Home

  HuffPost
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  Amanda Gorman says she was racially profiled near her home

  Associated Press

Lobbyist says Myanmar junta wants to improve relations with the West, spurn China

An Israeli-Canadian lobbyist hired by Myanmar's junta said on Saturday that the generals are keen to leave politics after their coup and seek to improve relations with the United States and distance themselves from China. Ari Ben-Menashe, a former Israeli military intelligence official who has previously represented Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe and Sudan's military rulers, said Myanmar's generals also want to repatriate Rohingya Muslims who fled to neighboring Bangladesh.

India sets up holding center for Rohingya in Kashmir

Authorities in Indian-controlled Kashmir have sent at least 168 Rohingya refugees to a holding center, police said Sunday, in a process that they say is for the deportation of thousands of the refugees living in the region. The move began Saturday following a directive from the region's home department to identify Rohingya living in the southern city of Jammu, said Inspector-General Mukesh Singh. “All of them are illegally living here and we have begun identifying them,” Singh said.

Security beefed up at Trump Tower as ex-president plans first visit to New York since leaving office

Security is being stepped up outside Trump Tower in New York ahead of the former president's first visit to the city since leaving the White House. Donald Trump was expected to arrive in Manhattan on Sunday night having moved to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida in January. Speculation was fuelled by reports of police planning to augment security outside Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, the building where he launched his bid for the presidency in 2015.

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  Donald Trump set to visit New York for first time since leaving White House

  The Guardian
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  Trump set to return to NYC for first visit since leaving office

  WABC – NY

Austria suspends AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine batch after death

Austrian authorities have suspended inoculations with a batch of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine as a precaution while investigating the death of one person and the illness of another after the shots, a health agency said on Sunday. "The Federal Office for Safety in Health Care (BASG) has received two reports in a temporal connection with a vaccination from the same batch of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the district clinic of Zwettl" in Lower Austria province, it said. One 49-year-old woman died as a result of severe coagulation disorders, while a 35-year-old woman developed a pulmonary embolism and is recovering, it said.

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  AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccines Arrive in Uganda

  Storyful
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  Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 Vaccine Startup in Conflict With University Ahead of Planned IPO

  The Wall Street Journal

B-52s again fly over Mideast in US military warning to Iran

A pair of B-52 bombers flew over the Mideast on Sunday, the latest such mission in the region aimed at warning Iran amid tensions between Washington and Tehran. The flight by the two heavy bombers came as a pro-Iran satellite channel based in Beirut broadcast Iranian military drone footage of an Israeli ship hit by a mysterious explosion only days earlier in the Mideast. While the channel sought to say Iran wasn't involved, Israel has blamed Tehran for what it described as an attack on the vessel.

Myanmar coup: India asked to return police officers who crossed border

Myanmar has asked neighbouring India to return several police officers who crossed the border seeking refuge after refusing to carry out orders. Indian officials said the officers and their families had crossed the border in recent days. In a letter, Myanmar authorities asked for their return "in order to uphold friendly relations".

French billionaire politician killed in helicopter crash

French billionaire Olivier Dassault was killed on Sunday in a helicopter crash, a police source said, with President Emmanuel Macron paying tribute to the 69-year old conservative politician. Dassault was the eldest son of late French billionaire industrialist Serge Dassault, whose namesake Dassault Aviation, builds the Rafale war planes and owns Le Figaro newspaper. "Olivier Dassault loved France.

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  French billionaire politician Olivier Dassault dies in helicopter crash

  The Independent
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  French billionaire Olivier Dassault dies in helicopter crash

  The Telegraph

Russia scores points with vaccine diplomacy, but snags arise

Russia's boast in August that it was the first country to authorize a coronavirus vaccine led to skepticism at the time because of its insufficient testing. Six months later, as demand for the Sputnik V vaccine grows, experts are raising questions again — this time, over whether Moscow can keep up with all the orders from the countries that want it. Slovakia got 200,000 doses on March 1, even though the European Medicines Agency, the European Union's pharmaceutical regulator, only began reviewing its use on Thursday in an expedited process.

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  EU regulator urges caution on Sputnik COVID-19 vaccine

  Reuters
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  Vaccine diplomacy: Putin seeks to leverage Sputnik V to build Russia’s global influence

  MarketWatch

At Dubai airport, travelers' eyes become their passports

Dubai's airport, the world's busiest for international travel, can already feel surreal, with its cavernous duty-free stores, artificial palm trees, gleaming terminals, water cascades and near-Arctic levels of air conditioning. It's the latest artificial intelligence program the United Arab Emirates has launched amid the surging coronavirus pandemic, contact-less technology the government promotes as helping to stem the spread of the virus. Dubai's airport started offering the program to all passengers last month.

Who truly was the most dishonest president?

Former President Donald Trump was often accused of having a complete disregard for the truth. When Saddam Hussein invaded the oil-rich emirate of Kuwait in August 1990, President George HW Bush snarled: "This will not stand." The Kuwaiti government-in-exile promptly hired a US public relations firm, Hill & Knowlton, whose Washington DC office was run by Bush's former chief of staff.

Rights groups call for investigation into killings of Philippine activists

Human rights groups called on the Philippine government to investigate what they said was the use of "lethal force" during police raids on Sunday that left at least nine activists dead. The raids in four provinces south of Manila resulted in the death of an environmental activist as well as a coordinator of left-wing group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, among others, and resulted in the arrest of four others, activist groups said. "These raids appear to be part of a coordinated plan by the authorities to raid, arrest, and even kill activists in their homes and offices," Human Rights Watch Deputy Asia Director Phil Robertson said in a statement.

'Lesson fully received': An 18-year-old charged in the Capitol riot says he was 'wrong' and begged a judge to release him

The youngest suspect charged in the Capitol riots wrote a letter begging a judge to release him. Bruno Joseph Cua, 18, previously boasted on Instagram of storming the Capitol and fighting inside. Bruno Joseph Cua, 18, faces a slew of federal charges related to the January 6 insurrection, including assault on a federal officer, engaging in physical violence, violent entry or disorderly conduct, and civil disorder.

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  ‘I will not step one foot out of line’: 18-year-old charged in Capitol riot begs for release

  The Independent
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  18-year-old Capitol rioter wants to go home to his ‘loving family’ who drove him to DC

  NY Daily News

With many vaccinated, Israel reopens economy before election

Israel reopened most of its economy Sunday as it removed many of its remaining coronavirus lockdown restrictions, lifted by its successful vaccination campaign and giving a boost to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's re-election hopes. The easing of restrictions comes after months of government-imposed shutdowns and less than three weeks before the country's fourth parliamentary elections in two years. Israel, a world leader in vaccinations per capita, has fully immunized nearly 40% of its population in just over two months.

Thousands of people who visited a COVID-19 vaccination site in California received the wrong dosage, report says

An estimated 4,300 people received less of the Pfizer vaccine than they should have, KTVU reported. Too little of the vaccine was administered due to a problem with new syringes, the media outlet said. California health officials have said patients will be informed "immediately" if they need a booster.

Yemen's Houthis attack Saudi oil heartland with drones, missiles

Yemen's Houthi forces fired drones and missiles at the heart of Saudi Arabia's oil industry on Sunday, including a Saudi Aramco facility at Ras Tanura vital to petroleum exports, in what Riyadh called a failed assault on global energy security. Announcing the attacks, the Houthis, who have been battling a Saudi-led coalition for six years, also said they attacked military targets in the Saudi cities of Dammam, Asir and Jazan. The Saudi energy ministry said an oil storage yard at Ras Tanura, the site of an oil refinery and the world's biggest offshore oil loading facility, was attacked with a drone coming from the sea.